Montezuma Castle NM, Arizona, protects a well-preserved ancient Sinagua Indian ruin in the side of a rock wall off I-17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit. We visited Montezuma Castle as part of our 8-Park Southwest tour during March. In one day, we […]
Mesa Verde
Established in 1906, Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado is one of the oldest national parks around and is still the only national park founded to protect something man-made. In this case, it’s several of the largest and best preserved ancient Puebloan cliff dwellings in the US. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP […]
Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de SHAY) is home to brilliant red canyons and ancient ruins set in the heart of the Navajo Reservation in northeast Arizona. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit. We visited Canyon de Chelly as part of our 8-Park Southwest tour in March 2004. […]
Petrified Forest
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, is home to the largest collection of colorful petrified wood in the US. Like many parks, Petrified Forest was formerly a National Monument. It achieved National Park status in 1962. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating Scenery Uniqueness Wildlife Diversity ILNP Park Review In a Word. “Colorful” […]
Guadalupe Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, was founded in 1972 to preserve the surprisingly diverse wilderness of the southern Guadalupe Mountains, a range created from an enormous fossilized reef rising up from the Chihuahuan Desert. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating Scenery Uniqueness Wildlife Diversity ILNP Park Review In a Word. “Unexpected” “He […]
Sequoia and Kings Canyon
Sequoia National Park, the second oldest Park next to Yellowstone, was established in 1890 to protect the Giant Sequoia tree species found only in this area of the world. The Giant Sequoia is the largest of all living organisms, but their existence was threatened by logging before the Park was created. Kings Canyon National Park, […]
Wupatki
Wupatki NM protects several Sinaguan Indian ruins 26 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona on US 89. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit. We visited Sunset Crater Volcano NM and Wupatki NM on the way to the Grand Canyon during March as part of our 8-Park southwest tour. […]
Bandelier
Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico protects the ancient Anasazi Indian ruins found in the Frijoles Canyon near Los Alamos, New Mexico. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit We visited Bandelier NM on the way from Colorado to Carlsbad Caverns NP during March as part of our 8 […]
The Most Helpful Ranger
Sequoia & Kings Canyon NP, California While perusing the Grant Grove gift shop in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between a young couple and the old Park Ranger behind the counter. The couple, looking for tips on what trails to take and areas to see, asked the […]
Crunch, Crunch, Poof
Kenai Fjords NP, Alaska It was a warm May day in Alaska, so my wife and I put on our shorts and tennis shoes and set out to Kenai Fjords. Now, the highlight of a visit to Kenai Fjords is a hike to the face of Exit Glacier, so we left our car and set […]
Walnut Canyon
Walnut Canyon, National Monument, Arizona, is home to a unique set of ancient Sinagua Indian ruins tucked into a scenic canyon 10 miles East of Flagstaff on I-40. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating ILNP Park Review Our Visit. We visited Walnut Canyon on the way to Petrified Forest NP in March […]
Great Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, which lays across the mountainous border between Tennessee and North Carolina, was established in 1934 to protect some of the densest “old-growth” deciduous forest in the world. Visitor Rating (write your own review below) ILNP Rating Scenery Uniqueness Wildlife Diversity ILNP Park Review In a Word. “Refreshing” “How lovely […]